DELAWARE TWP. — The township can't use a county grant to replace leaky windows at the Municipal Building with new ones that match the old, but are energy efficient. So it's seeking quotes instead to repair the frames, sills and sashes.

Officials applied for the Hunterdon County Open Space Trust Fund grant because sills and jambs are rotting on the stone building that was innkeeper Henry Wagner's home when the township was organized there as a municipality in 1838.

The township has to "match" 25% of the grant by spending $7,250 of its own money on the project.

The county grant was awarded earlier this summer but then the township sought clarification, because, Mayor Roger Locandro said, it wanted the option of replacing the windows with "historically accurate" appearing, energy-efficient versions.

A side view of the Delaware Township Municipal Building shows a later clapboard addition.

Last year the township used a $50,000 clean energy grant to install more energy-efficient lights and a new cooling system, said Locandro, and officials want to continue reducing the former tavern's energy consumption.

In order to keep more heated or air-conditioned air inside the building, Plexiglass was installed years ago on the inside of the windows. Much of that has been removed, said Township Clerk Judy Allen, to allow fresh air inside on temperate days or because the plastic sheets cracked.

Some Plexiglass remains on the inside of the building's second-story, inoperable windows. There aren't any plans to replace the Plexiglass.

The township is seeking quotes on repairing and painting the window frames, sills and sashes, including replacing rotted wood. If quotes exceed the state-set $17,500 threshold, the township would bid the job.

The township would then seek quotes on repairing flashing on the roof of the building's rear clapboard addition.

The Municipal Building is on the state and national registers of historic places.

There are a number of items on the wish list for the Municipal Building, including the replacement of doors and old siding on the rear addition and the reconstruction of a porch that once fronted the building at the intersection of Rosemont-Ringoes Road and Route 523.